Joe DiMaggio

On November 19, 1939, he married actress Dorothy Arnold in San Francisco's St. Peter and Paul Church. The couple had a son together. They divorced in 1944.

He was a spokesman and face of ‘Mr.Coffee’, an American coffee machine company. He was also the spokesman for ‘The Bowery Savings Bank’.

On January 14, 1954, he married actress Marilyn Monroe. However, the marriage did not work for long and the couple divorced on October 27, 1954.

Joseph Paul Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California, to Italian immigrant parents, Giuseppe, a fisherman and Rosalia DiMaggio. He was the eighth of nine children of the couple.

After he turned a year old, his family relocated to San Francisco. While his father wished he would become a fisherman, he hated staying in his father’s boat and resented the smell of dead fish.

His older brother Vince DiMaggio, who played for the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, convinced his manager to let his brother fill the shortstop position.

On October 1, 1932, he made his professional debut on his brother Vince DiMaggio’s recommendation. He played as a replacement for the last few seasons and was subsequently taken in by the San Francisco Seals.

In 1933, he got hits in sixty consecutive games a record which gave him a celebrity status in the Bay Area. He held a batting average of 340 and had scored a total of 169 runs.

In an unfortunate incident in 1934, he tore his ligaments of the left knee. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Seals wished to sell his contract to the New York Yankees for a $100,000. Despite his injury, Scout Bill Essick of the New York Yankees believed that he would recover and thus insisted on him.

His contract was purchased by the New York Yankees for $25,000 and five players. The San Francisco Seals retained him for the 1935 season and he led the team to the Pacific Coast League title, that year.

On May 3, 1936, he made his debut in major league baseball as a member of the New York Yankees. He batted ahead of his fellow baseball player Lou Gehrig in his first game.

He was a three time proud recipient of ‘The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player’ award.

In 1941, he was conferred the ‘Associated Press Athlete of the Year’ title.

In 1955, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall Of Fame.

On April 13, 1998 he was conferred the ‘Sports Legend Award’ at the 13th annual American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame Awards Dinner, New York City.